I'm not sure what kind it is to tell you the truth. My friend's Dad worked for APC Racing, he would go to shows with products to use as demos, well when APC shut down or whatever, I got about 500 dollars worth in parts. I decided to use this intake, it's pretty solid and it's not a fabric or cloth type, it's an aluminum type. Kind of like the screens on windows, but stiffer and overlapping... you can feel the suction if you place your hand around it.
As for the MAF, prior to placing the cone filter in, I upgraded mine to the 5.0L MAF housing. Just go to the junkyard, find a Ford with a 5.0L in it and get the housing, it was only about 15 dollars or so used here at the local Pull-A-Part. With it you put your own electronics in it, so you have your electronics and the used MAF. It was about a year ago that I put the cone filter in, i like this one because I can take it out, throw it in the dishwasher and when it comes out it's perfectly clean, lol.
Bp and Shell are the best gasolines in my area by far btw. My engine has 260k on the block, never been touched. I can tell a difference between Kroger gas and BP gas, and my mileage is also affected. I run nothing but shell/bp gas, whichever is cheaper. I didn't know Mobil had gasoline, I don't think we have a station here.
ethanol won't run on carbs correctly i believe. my friend had to get a carb that was made out of a different type of metal so he could run ethanol, or gas with ethanol in it.
as for underhood temps, i have a "heat shield" around the air filter, which probably doesn't do anything but looks cool. i'm trying to figure out how to suck in outside air while keeping moisture out. I'm thinking about running the air intake from the driver side but i don't know if extending the wires for the MAF will have any issues. only reason i'm considering that side is because there's more room and i can do a true cold air intake from that side.